Process and apparatus for covering tire beads



June 2, 1931. H. A. DENMIRE 1,808,710

PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR COVERING TIRE BEADS Filed June 19. 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. 1444/9010 4. DE /p5;

BY 0 z? 1, w I ATTORNEY.

June 2, 1931. mE 1,808,71b]

PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR COVERING TIRE BEADS Filed June 19, 9 4 sheets-Sheet 2 5 l INVENTOR. 44mm A. Day/ms A TTORNE Y.

June 2,1931; H. A. DENMIRE 1,808,710

PROCESS AND APPARATUS FQR COVERING TIRE BEADS Filed June 19, 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet s A TTORNE Y.

June 2, 1931. H. A. DENMIRE 1,808,710

PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR COVERING TIRE BEADS Filed June 19, 5 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

Patented June 2, 1931 4 umTEofsrATE 1 PATENT OFFI l HAROLD A. DENMIRE, or exnon, orzro, 'essrenort TO THE GENERAL rmn & RI'I'BHBER j COMPANY, or AKRON, omo, A CORPORATION or onro lrnoonss AND APPARATUS non. COVERING-I 'rIBErEAns Application filed his 19, 1925; seriainof 38,228.

The present invention relates to the marin facture of pneumatic tires and particularly to a certainoperation in the preparation of the materials for the tire. The operation referred to is that of covering the clrcular tire beads preparatory to their incorporation in the tire structure. I

The beads are made as endless'rlngs and before they are placed in the tire it is usual to cover. them with a strip of covering fabric known in the art as aflipper strip. The flipper strip, or flipper, so-called, consists of one or more layers of fabric which are impregnated and coated with rubber and 3 ,3 are applied to the inner surface of the bead and folded outwardly the edges of the fabric I being rolled together adhesively, forming a web, which, in the finishedtire, lies between layers of the carcass. 2O In machines and methods previously in use,

so far as known'to me, the fabric to form the flipper or covering strip has been applied to the inner surface ofthe bead, the margins of the fabric being stretched outwardly. As the circumference at the margin is considerably greater than around the inner periphery of the head, there is astrong resistanceset upbythe fabricate the cementing and rolling operation and the web of fabric has a strong tendency to curl over.

This makes it difiicult to apply the fabric to the bead and after it has been applied the curling action of the fabric makes it extremely difficult toplace the bead properly in the tire structure. V

One of the chief objects of the invention is to overcome the tendencyof the fabric web to curl over, a result which is accomplished by applying the fabric to the inner circum- 40 ference of the bead with a considerable fullness which is absorbed bythe outwardly projecting web so that there isno tensionset up within the fabric. 1 y

Other objects of the invention are to conlstruct a simple and easily operated machine the operation of covering tire beads.

The bead which is designed .to be covered and which is in endless or ring form s ind stantially triangular in cross-section, the in-:

by means of which a girl may be employed A superior bead and flipper is obtained, and the work of the tire builder is materially lessened. I v v In the drawings hereto attached is shown one embodiment of the invention, but it is obvious that the invention is not limited ,to

exact conformity with the details thereof, but 7 appended hereto.

In the drawings: 7 j 4 v .Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine showing one form of the invention;

Figure 2 isaplan thereof; v Figure 8 is an enlargedplanatthe point of application of the cover to the-bead;-

Figure 4 is .an enlarged elevation showing the operation-of the pressing or smoothing rollers; r c j a.

t Figure 5 isa similar viewof the bending or folding operation; V j j L Figure 6 is a detail showing the manner of supporting the folding shoes orhorn; 1

Figure is a cross-sectionofthe fabric showing the position of the bead thereon;

and I i Figure 8v is an enlarged fragmentary'view 'of the bead, partially covered,

cated by the numeral 1. It'is; usually com- Vmay' be varied within the scope-ofthe claimsr Y posed of rubberand metallic reinforcingnia L terial, such as wires or cables, and isl'sub ner surfaceof the-bead being indicated by the numeral 1 Thelbead cover, or flipper,

I which this machine is intended to apply, may

be of various forms such as commonly; used by tire manufacturers In the form illus trated herein, three parallel strips ofbias cut fabric are employed, a heavy fabric 2 being placed in the center and two lighter fabrics?) and 4 on either side thereofand projecting beyond the margins of the central strip. The strips 3 and 4 are designed 'to terminate at their inner edges at the lower corners of the bead, and the strip 3 is slight 1y wider than the strip 4. As the bead is located off center with respect to the central strip 2, the outer edges of the superimposed plies of covering material are stepped off.

This is'shown in Figures 7 and 8. The several strips are 'all adhesively connected by the usual friction coat of rubber and are, prepared for'the machine either as a continuous strip'ror in lengths suflicientto cover a single bead. If the former, the coverlng-strlp 1s severed at the machine by the operator at the proper time. 7 i V l V The machine comprises art'able 5 which is supported at the proper height-by legs 6,

braced as at 7. ,A motor 8 is supported near the base of the machine and serves to drive the various parts through a'worm' reduction gearing? operating a main drive shaft '10.

A positively driven clutch member'll is car- I ried on the shaft 10 and with this member is designed to cooperate a free clutch member smoothing the cover, to be described later,

A ro1lers,'to be later described, in the direction {of the achine,

and by two 'wide' cone-shaped rollers'20 and 21 which are rotatably mounted on pins 18 upon a pivoted lever 22 which rocks about a pin '23-. Each of these rollers consists of'the conical portion referred to and a cylindrical portion '24, to 1% the inner periphery of the bead, and a collar 25 which holds the bead in the correct horizontalplane.- The'lever 22 is normally held, outward, so that the rollers contact the inner circiunference of the bead, by a weight 26 attachedtoone end of a cable 27 which is fastened at its other end't'o a pin "28 near the extremity ofithelever. V V 'Wh'enjit is desired to remove a covered bead and replace .it by an" uncovered bead, the rollers-2O and 21 are moved inwardly by rocking the lever about the pivot "23 which is doneby meansof a cable 29 which is secured to thepin28, passes overla n idler 30 and is attached to a foot treadle '31 pivoted on the brace '7. WVhen the rollers have been p moved inwardly the bead may be lifted out he bead is propelled by the smoothing of the arrow A in Figure3, and after leavingtheroller 21 new; encounters: a stationarysupporting bracket or guide 33 and then passes to thefrolls which apply the compound of fabric to the inner periphery of the v 7 c V The fabric comes from any suitable source and is uided with respect to the head, so

that it is accurately placed in the relation shown in Figure 7. To guide the fabric, use is made of a vertical roller '34 which 1s rotatably mounted upon a pin 35 in the top- V of the table 5. A flange/ 36 is provided on the roller for the lower edge of the fabric and serves to locate the fabric at the proper point with respect to the bead. The fabric passes to thebead about the circumference of a feeding and applying roller 37, which is mounted upon a vertical axis in the parallel arms 38 of a bracket 39. The roller 37 is positively driven by means of bevel gearing 40 from a jack-shaft 41 which is carried-in brackets-42 depending from the table .5 and rotatedby chain 19 from sprocket l3. 7

The fabric is held ingtight contact with;

the surface of the roller 37- by means of idle rollers 4343 which are located above and below the bead and press the margins of the fabric against the roller 37. The rollers 43 are mounted upon stub shafts 44 which extend toward one another from parallel arms 45 each of which is pivoted at 46'to one of the arms 38. Springs 47 hold the rolls-43 against the roll 37 withyielding pressure,

so thatthey may give independently of one another in passing the diagonalsplices in the fabric. 1 7' I V It will be seen that the amount of the fabric applied to the inner circumference of the bead is dependent upon the surface speed of the roller 37, andthe machine is so constituted thatthe surface speed of the roller 37 is greater than the speed of travel of the bead so'th'at-adeg'ree of fullness, de-

terminable by the demands of the work and regulated by the diameter of the roller 37,

is imparted to the fabric "and distributed evenly throughoutjthe margins of the fabric. This gives a very desirable excess of fabric upon'which the machine may draw in folding the fabric outwardly of the'be'ad.

The ma rgi ns of the fabric pucker orfold 1 10 intended to be indicated in Figure 5, wherein evenly on either side of the bead, a result the fullness is shown. This is one ofthe valuable features of the present machine and process ofcovering thebead, and enables Y the web to be formed from the adhering mar gins of the fabric with little or no curling ofthe fabric.

After the bead leaves the fabric applying roller '37, it next encounters devicesfor turn- 7 ing the margins of the fabric over the bead preparatory to therolling ope-ration. In the, v

machine-asshown, these devices comprise a pair of horns or shoes which diverge outwardly from the -in'ner'circumfere11ce of the bead and gradually bend the full unapplied 'Inargins 'until they project radially outward of the bead; "The shoes are in'dicatedat 50 and are; fiat plates, the outer edges 51 0f which extend infa gradual curve from "a point adjacent the applying roller to 'a; point-of delivery at the smoothing or compressing rolls. The edges diverge from the line of travel of the bead as shown in Figure 3. The horns are adjustably mounted by means of slots 52 upon an upright post 53 secured to the table, and are arranged on either side of the bead and on either side of a freely rotatable roller 54, located between the horns, against which runs the inner circumference of the bead.

The covering fabric having been applied to the inner circumference of the bead and folded outwardly, the beadis ready for the final rolling and compressing operation which rolls the fabric into adhesive contact wiili the two side surfaces of-the bead and rolls the unapplied margins of the fabric together to form the outwardly projecting web.

This action is performed by two rollers, indicated generally at 55 and 56, placed one above the other, the rollers being substantially conical in form but placed in opposite directions so that the larger surface of one roller is in opposition to the smaller surface of the other. One of the rollers, shown here as the upper roller 55, is stepped, off in the manner shown at 57 so as to accommodate the varying thicknesses of the covering fabric and the lower roll 56 is provided with a flange 58 against which bears the inner circumference of the bead. The surfaces of the rollers are knurled or roughened in order to grip the bead firmly, as these rollers serve to.

drive or propel the beadthrough the machine.

It will be noted that the outer portion of the bead and its cover are greater in circumference than the inner so that the material travels faster on its outer edge, and this is i the roll 55 as it projects outwardly from the head. The roll is, therefore, solid, while the roll 56 is divided into several sections.

The inner section of the roller 56, together with the flange 58 and the gear 68 are fixedly mounted upon the supporting and driving shaft 2. The intermediate section 63 is loose upon the shaft and the outer section 64 is also loose upon the shaft but is secured to i and rotates with a small pinion 65. The shaft 62 is driven by a sprocket 66 and chain 67 from the clutch member 11. The upper roller 55 is driven at the same speed as the section 60 of the roll 56 by equal intermeshing gears 68. The outer end of the roller 55 carries a gear 69 which meshes with the small pinion and drivesthe section 64 at a higher rate of speed so as to compensate for the difference in circumference of the cover at its outer edge.

The shaft 62 of the lower roller is carried in a bracket secured to the table, while the shaft 76 upon which the upper roller ro- -ported upon a horizontal pivot78 mounted'in a bracket 7 9-secured to thebracket 75. The

a shaft 76 is rocked upwardly about the pivot 78 to permit the bead to be removed from the machine by a cable 72 attached to the foot treadle 31 and moved at the same time as the arm 22 is moved. In order to hold the rollers in close contact withthe bead'todrive it, the outer end of the shaft carries a heavy weight 80, being received within a forked yoke 81 The operation ofthe machine may be briefly summarized as follows: 7

When the operator depresses the-treadl'e 31, the arm 22 moves inwardly, lifting the weight 26, and the shaft 76 and the roller 55 are elevated. A beadin the machine may then be removed and a new uncovered bead placed therein. The treadle is then released and the bead is held in horizontal position by the rollers 20, 21, 37, 54, 55 and 56. The

clutch 12 is then operated by the treadle 16 and the rollers 55 and 56- are rotated, propelling the bead, and at the same time the roller 37 is rotated. The fabric is then introduced between the roller 37 and the inner periphery of the bead and is applied, but due to increase in surface speed .of the roller 37, j

the looseness or fullness is imparted to the fabric as has been explained. The fabric is accurately guided by the'roller 36 and is folded outwardly by the horns 50, being finally rolled against the bead and by the rollers 55 and56.

The'bead will be covered with fabric in a manner superior to any known to me heretofore. .It operates easily and rapidly and eliminates the objectionable curling tendency of the outstanding web of fabric. The proc-- ess and machine may be varied fromexact conformity to the details which'have been described. i r

What is claimed is: f 1 1. In an apparatus for covering tire beads, a plurality of rollers to support thebead, a

support for certain of said rollers which bear against theinner circumference of the bead, and means to move said support toward the center of the bead to permit removal thereof. 7

2. In an apparatus for covering tire beads, a plurality of rollers to support the bead in a horizontal plane, a pivoted support for certain of said rollers, and means to rock the support toward the center of the bead to permit removal thereof.

3. In an apparatus forcovering tire beads,

. a pair of rollers adapted to roll the fabric tates is carried in a bearing 77 which is suplid rollers being divided,and means to rotate the halves of said roller at difierent speeds.

V 4. In an apparatus-for covering tire beads,

a pair of oppositely positioned conical, roll- 5 ers adapted toreceive between them a head,

V and an outstanding fabric web, one of said rollers being divided. 7

5. In an apparatus for'covering tire beads,

- V apair of oppositely positioned conical rollers adapted to receive between them a bead, an

outstanding fabrievveb, one of said rollers being divided, and means toydrive the two halves of said roller, vat different speeds. r 7 HAROLD A; DENM-IIRE. 

